The promotional material had promised a "motivation day" that would enable participants to "do away with disempowering beliefs and create new ones that could represent a path to their dreams and aims".

Unfortunately for the eight employees of one of Italy's biggest estate agencies, however, the path from an incentivising jamboree outside Rome led straight to the casualty wards of two hospitals in and near the capital.

The organiser of the event claimed on his website that the experience of walking on burning coals would "reinforce their motivation, their confidence in themselves and their self-esteem". In the event, it left them with injuries doctors said could take up to 10 days to heal.

Alessandro Di Priamo, the "performance coach" who staged the fire walk, stressed that only eight of between 40 and 50 participants had been hurt. He said: "I've been doing this for 12 years and there has never been a problem."

He said the aim of the exercise was to get people "to overcome their fears and meet challenges".

Particular kinds of charcoal were required to prevent injury, fir and chestnut being ideal, he said.

"But, without our knowing, other sorts were delivered to the hotel. What is worse, charcoal slack was added to speed up combustion."

Di Priamo said he realised only later, after he had done a test walk himself, that the temperature in the Polynesian-style path of burning coals had continued to rise. "It was too much," he said.

Serafino Bisirri, the manager of the Villa Icidia hotel, near Frascati, said he had been asked for, and had supplied, pine and fir charcoal. "Anyway," he asked, "if the wood wasn't the right sort, whose responsibility was that? Mr Di Priamo was the conductor of this particular orchestra. I mean, it's not as if I go walking on burning coals."